Indian Swimming Thread ...

[jaydeep]

Yes Bhushan ... But then if u click on 'Total Ranking' list, on 2nd page there u can see Veerdhawal's timing as mentioned in the article ...

49. KHADE Virdhawal 91 IND  26.38 54.75 1:23.67 1:52.41

Total Ranking from Official Omega Timing site

Jaydeep.

[BSharma]

Jaydeep,

I changed my post just before you mentioned my error in your post.  I mistook his qualifying time for his heat time. 

I am sorry for the error. 

It is a creditable performance by the young Indian swimmer.  He is 6 ft 2 inches tall and I am not sure how tall he will ultimately become, but from now onwards he will have to develop more muscles if he wants to improve on his times.  He is still about 6 seconds slower than the best swimmers, but he has time on his side to improve.

[sameerph]

What is heartening is that in that leading list there in no one with 1991 or even 1990 bithdate who is above Veerdhawal .

If he has to be eventually be a world class swimmer , we have to first look to how he stands in Asia. Looking at timing clocked at Doha  Asian games , with this timing he would have been in the final but would have finished only 8th.
Gold medalists at the Asian games , Park Tae Hwan is 17 years old & has also clocked the third best time in this world championships at 1.47.58. He won the Asian games with a Asian record of 1.47.12 where bronze medalists had clocked 1.49.62.

Therefore, challange for Veerdhawal would be to clip off about 3 to 5 seconds off his current mark in next couple of years. If he is able to that he will emerge as serious contender at Asian level in 3 years time & possible contender at olympics in 2012. ( as the top 2 asians at the moment are amomg finalists at world championships).

I hope he gets some world class training which will help him to do this.

[jaydeep]

And today Michael Phelps smashed Ian Thorpe's 2001 world record by 0.2 secs in 200-metres freestyle ... Phelps finished race in 1:43.86 mins.

Van den Hoogenband was second in 1:46.28 with Korean Park Tae-hwan taking the bronze in 1:46.73.

Jaydeep.

[arjun2761]

Seems like the world championship events are limited to 2 entries per country.  When comparing to the top Asians, Virdhawal finished behind both Chinese and Japanese entries but beat the second Korean although the top Korean is one of the best and won a bronze medal.

[amr090]

but can we be sure he's actually 15??

[jayakris]

Well, if he is already breaking Sebastien Xavier's records and qualifying into Olympics, regardless of his age, he is pretty damn good.

Also, as he has not been one making a lot of noise for a lot of time, and have been improving his times rather steadily, I think his age must be legit.

Jay

[amr090]

I hope so because if it is true then we really do have potential for an Asian class star and a shot at an olympic finals...I don't know if hes talented enough to medal at the Olympic level, but he needs top class training NOW.  A guy like Bob Bowman, who is Michael Phelps coach would be needed, and really he needs to train in the US or Australia which are the leading edge countries as far as swimming is concerned.

[BSharma]

Khade would have to join a high school in USA if he wants to be trained by American coaches.  Most high schools will be happy to accept him because of his exceptional results.  He would have to move in with some family in USA or have one or both parents move to USA.  I am not familiar with the Australian swim program, hence someone will have to educate me.

[sameerph]

Nice article in Times of India on Khade :- ( As it is in e-paper I am putting up the entire article & not the link ) . He also broke the national record in 100m Freestyle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From Kolhapur to Beijing



Swimmer Khade qualifies for Olympics, breaks national record


Mohsin Mulla | TNN



Kolhapur: A 15-year-old boy’s noteworthy performance at the on-going World Swimming Championships in Melbourne has lifted this southern Maharashtra town out of “cricket depression.’’
While the Indian team’s poor performance at the cricket World Cup has brought grief to the entire nation, in Kolhapur, the people are rejoicing over Virdhawal Khade’s success at Melbourne.
Bringing Kolhapur’s sporting talent once again in the limelight, Khade qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics by clocking 1:52.41 seconds in the 200 meters category at the World Championships on Monday.
His timing at the event was under the qualifying time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Although he finished 49th, his timing was 0.44 seconds better than that of the gold medalist at the 2006 FINA World Youth Swimming Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Khade, who stands 6’2’’ tall (six feet two inches) is a SSC student at Saint Xavier’s High School and is the world’s fastest swimmer in his age group by virtue of his record timings at the National Games in Guwahati recently. Interestingly, his coach Nihar Ameen persuaded his parents Vikram and Sunita to miss out
on his SSC exams and go to Melbourne.
  “Actually, we were confused about sending him to Melbourne because it was clashing with his SSC exams. However, the coach was confident of his performance and insisted on his participation. Now he has cleared the Olympic quota and will give the SSC exams in October 2007,’’ the young boy’s mother Sunita told TOI.
  Despite pursuing a full-fledged swimming career, Khade has not neglected his studies and has scored over 80 per cent marks in school exams. This top swimmer’s success at Melbourne has not only brought joy to his family but has lifted Kolhapur out of its “cricket-depression.’’
  The entire city is proud over his performance and various groups have been rejoicing by putting up his posters in various parts of the city. They are now waiting for his return to Kolhapur to felicitate him publicly.
  “On his return, we will take him out in a procession and felicitate him. He is the first sportsman from Kolhapur to qualify for the Olympics and we will raise whatever money that he may require to prepare for this challenge,’’ industrialist Dhananjay Mahadik, who has been encouraging sports here said.
  Khade clocked 23.92 seconds in the 50 metres freestyle and 1:54.18s in the 200m freestyle at the recent National Games in Guwahati, where he bagged six gold medals. The 100m and 200m freestyle timings are the best Indian performances. According to the Swimming Federation of India, Khade is faster than any 15-year-old in the United States, Europe or Australia.
  His swimming career began at the age of five when he started learning at the Bhavani Swimming Tank in Kolhapur and his coach Shrikant Jambhale spotted the young boy’s talent. He bagged his first swimming medal in a local championship at Ichalkarnji in 1996, while his first national medal was a silver at the Sub-Junior national aquatic championship in 2001 at Goa.
  Within a short period of six years, he had 43 gold, 17 silver, 9 bronze at the national level and 9 gold, a silver and a bronze at the international level. Presently, he has been taking guidance at the K.C. Reddy Swimming Centre in Bangalore from national coach Nihar Ameen.
  Khade comes from a family that loves sports and his father Vikram, a jaggery trader, is a well-known basketball player here.
  He is the latest sportstar to bring fame to this southern Maharashtra town. Previously, rifle-shooter Tejaswini Sawant created a sensation in January 2006 by winning gold medals at the Women’s 10m Air Rifle singles and Women’s 10m Air Rifle Pairs (with Avneet Kaur Sidhu) at the Commonwealth Games at Melbourne.
  Navnath Fartade, another ace shooter from Kolhapur Krida Prabhodini had bagged gold in the World
  Championships held at Zagreb in May last year.
 
National record in    Melbourne

Virdhawal Khade created a new national record in the 100m freestyle event at the World Championships in Melbourne on Thursday. Virdhawal clocked an impressive 51.46sec to improve upon his own earlier record of 52.12sec set at the Doha Asian Games last December. In the process, the Kolhapur teen not only won his heat again but also became the first Indian to go under the 52-second barrier. AGENCIES

[jaydeep]

Amazing stuff .. Virdhawal Khade became first Indian swimmer who break 52 secs barrier in 100 mtrs freestyle ..

Jaydeep.

[jayakris]

When he did his thing at the recent Guwahati National Games, I said

From Record watch - from Rongmon's diary - Day 3

Maharashtra’s Veerdhaval Khade has broken a 10-year old national record at the 33rd National Games on Feb 10 winning a gold in the 200m men’s freestyle swimming. Khade clocked 1.54.18 sec shattering Karnataka’s Abhijit J’s record of 1:58:68 sec in 1997.

Nice to see him shave off a whole 4.5 second off the national record.  But to put it in perspective, Thorpe's Olympics record for 200m freestyle is at about 1.46 sec.  In fact one needed to be under 1.50 to make the final 16 at Athens.   Khade needs to shave off another 4.5 seconds now...

Looks like he took only a few weeks to shave off 1/3rd of it in 200m! .. Now he goes under 52 in 100m too ..

He is on his way .. At this rate we will have to start a "Khade thread" soon.

Jay

[amr090]

Khade is a beast....this is the line i liked the most from that article.....

"He is the first sportsman from Kolhapur to qualify for the Olympics and we will raise whatever money that he may require to prepare for this challenge,’’ industrialist Dhananjay Mahadik, who has been encouraging sports here said.

[Atithee]

I am getting a bit nervous!  Even assuming age is not in doubt, because improvement is improvement, whatever his age, I hope there are no performance enhancement stuff going on.  I really hope he's clean and there is no "herbal petrol" fueling this rapid advance.

Sorry - but once bitten twice shy!  I just don't want to be bitterly shattered later on after being euphoric for so long.

Go Khade!  I will root for you and hope you'll at least make it to the finals in your first attempt and that an Indian swimming medal in Olymics/World Championships will not be far away.

[jayakris]

The longer mugu takes to comment, the more I get concerned

Jay